We Are The Right People

Pressed to desperately defend the proposed parking lot with attached hospital, David Musyj, a member of the mega-hospital site selection committee, expressed a concern on social media that the “right people” hear “we are ready”. Once again it suggests of a competition with other communities for borrowed money.

As previously suggested, deadlines for approval have passed and the selection committee blames critics for the lack of approval. They should be blaming themselves for not addressing criticism and not reconsidering the plan.

The “right people”, the general public, are ready to hear a better plan.

All final decisions in a pseudo-democratic society need a social license or social consensus, as true community leaders know. After seven years of planning and millions in consultants’ fees, the committee has failed to gain social consensus.

The days of pitchforks and torches have been replaced by signs of protest, which merely warn leaders to tread cautiously. If every Re-think The Mega-Hospital lawn sign represents large groups of people, the committee should be sufficiently warned.

Campaigns against hospitals are happening everywhere across the province and they are learning of our own struggle.

It’s time doe the committee to hire professional survey takers, unlike the previous, self-administered surveys which show bias and manipulation and which are not at all convincing. Some may even accept the plan out of apathy, but that is insufficient grounds to base a $2 billion project.

This plan will inevitably fail with successive governments, but it should be halted now, along with the attempts to divide the community.

We can imagine a thousand better scenarios than the proposed hospital plan, but we aren’t the paid experts to interpret the worth of consultants’ recommendations. The hospital committee has failed us, but they are unelected so can’t be outvoted, and we no longer run people out of town.